SEEN from Greece, the euro crisis could be viewed as pure farce if it was not the cause of so much human suffering. The endless make-or-break meetings in Brussels. The obscure jargon that emerges from them and is largely incomprehensible to the average Greek. The stock reply that the report of the troika must be awaited before the great leaders can reach a decision on Greece – the political equivalent of a clumsy kick to touch. The Greeks must meet their commitments, an abstract formula that conveys no idea of the social reality it involves.

Greek TV has a great capacity for regurgitating this verbiage. It seems so unreal, but the resulting decisions affect masses of people. Their unemployment benefit is finished. The extended family survives on the grandmother's pension which has already been cut twice. They can no longer pay the rent. The latest statistic – the electricity company is disconnecting 30,000 customers per month and the winter has not really begun yet.

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